Rohit pleased with drawn warm-up

India's under-fire batting line-up gained valuable match practice on Monday as the tourists' two-day Test warm-up against a New Zealand XI ended in a draw. India declared at 313 for 7 on day two in response to the hosts' 262 for 9 declared, with wicketkeeper-batsman Ambati Rayudu unbeaten on 49 after Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane retired on 59 and 60 respectively. All-rounder Ravi Ashwin also made a good start before Shawn Hicks bowled him for 46.

The Indian batting started from their overnight score of 41/0, with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay looking to bat for time. But they couldn't stay at the wicket for a long duration, as both fell early in the first hour of play.

Vijay was the first to go, bowled in the second over of the day, without adding to his overnight score of 19, which came off 56 deliveries and included one hit to the fence. Dhawan needed to spend more time in the middle after his repetitive failures in the ODI series but going for a third run, a misunderstanding with non-striker Cheteshwar Pujara meant that he was run-out. He scored 26 runs, off 68 balls, with four fours.

Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma was pleased that all the batsmen got a chance to get a feel of the conditions.

"We got what we wanted from this practice game. All the batsmen got in and made some runs which is a good sign before a Test series. We are ready and both the batsmen and the bowlers got what they wanted from this match. I am happy with how things went in the last two days," said Rohit

Ashwin, who scored 46, also had a decent outing with the ball taking 2 for 46. Among the other bowlers, Ishant Sharma (2/58), Zaheer Khan (1/42) and Umesh Yadav (1/70) were also among the wickets, but the most impressive bowler was unheralded Ishwar Pandey with figures of 3/42.

"Pandey bowled really well. Given the conditions, he stuck to his plans and he got rewarded with three wickets. All the other three fast bowlers also did well. They did not get the wickets they wanted, but Pandey was the one who got really stuck there," said a pleased Rohit.

Rohit gave some insight onto the plans of rotating the bowlers to give everyone a chance."If you look at their bowling analysis, they probably bowled 15 overs each, which is pretty good on day one. We had to rotate the bowlers, and we had to see all the fast bowlers who were in the squad. Everyone got what they needed to get out of this game. We are looking good and raring to go for the Test series," he said.

Rohit was not too critical of the openers, Vijay and Dhawan, neither of whom managed to carry on after getting a start.

"I won't say it is disappointing that they didn't bat longer. They had a decent outing in the middle. They got a feel. It is always disappointing to not get runs. It is not an issue. I am sure it is a matter of one good innings and things will change quickly," he defended.

Rohit was apprehensive about the hectic schedule that the team faced but believed that adapting to it was a challenge in itself

"We knew it was going to be very hectic. Mentally, we have got to be ready and everyone is ready. Touchwood, there are no injuries. We travel tomorrow, get a day off tomorrow and next day we might have practice before the Test. It is always going to be hectic, all about how you adapt to all this mentally."

Rohit also wanted to move past the ODI series loss and wanted to put his thoughts on what lay ahead.

"At this point, you have to put everything behind. It was very disappointing to lose the ODI series. But we have to focus on what is coming next. The two Tests will be crucial. This is a young team and we know we will be playing away for a while now. We have to understand that.

"The two Tests will be really challenging. New Zealand are playing some good cricket. We have to be at our best to beat them. I am sure everyone is ready to take the field," he signed off.

The first of two Tests between New Zealand and India starts in Auckland on Thursday.